Feeding Advice

[tonyg]

So I'm pretty sure I'm overfeeding my fish, I have flakes, really small pellets and frozen mysis shrimp. I feed twice a day.

I got the flakes for the clowns, when i first got them they couldn't fit even the smallest pellets in their mouth. Now that they are a bit bigger, they prefer the pellets. Any pellets the fish don't get usually get eaten by a shrimp. I give them some mysis shrimp once or twice a week. The clowns will eat a little but the shrimps and blue leg crabs go nuts.

Besides the shrimp and clowns there's my new midas blenny who seem like he could easily eat 5 or 6 pellets himself. Though he is not interested in flakes.

Sow roughly how many pellets should I be putting in to make sure everyone is taken care of? I know they say you should offer only enough food that the fish can eat in a couple of minutes, but its hard to tell with the pellets, Even though I only feed 2 or 3 pellets at a time, the fish still miss a lot as they sink and I end up putting even more in to make sure they are full.

Any advice is always greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Bifferwine]

I would move away from all flakes and pellets and switch to frozen completely. It gets eaten much more readily and won't foul your water as easily. Feeding twice a day is too much, IMO. I would feed once every other day. Only feed a couple of pellets at a time to minimize the number that get lost on the bottom. Stuff that hits the bottom will just rot and make your water yucky.

 

[yote]

+1 Biff
Even with a once every other day feeding,it'll be extremely easy to over feed.
Most fish by nature will eat until their stomach can't hold anymore.That's how they are programed.In the wild,a bite to eat don't come along everyday for a fish.So they'll eat anything and everything they can.As a result,they'll eat eat as long as there is food available.That will also cause the fish to produce more waste.
Something that most folks don't realize,is in a properly or litely stocked reef,using good quality live rock,there are ample amounts of natural ( algaes,pods,worms ) that the fish will feed on.

 

[sophia2change]

It's not very good to over feed, you know, to save fish food ):
If you have enough time to make their life colorful, you can try some aquarium lights

 

[tonyg]

I have had nothing but success with my tank following the advice of the awsome members of this forum, I alwayse tend to trust someones experience over somting I've read. but the feeding thing really has me confused.

I'v see numerous places on the web and in books, and even on the back of fish food that say to feed multiple times a day.

like this one Midas Blenny - Microcosm Aquarium Explorer

Researching midas blenny I came across a thread in a different forum where a guy was feeding his once every three days and his blenny looked terrible. It was soooo skinny, most of the posts that followed said he should have been feeding daily if not twice a day. I wish I could post the link, but I cant find it again. I would hate for any of my fish to end up like that because I didnt feed properly.

I was under the assumption that an omnivourious fish like midas blenny or my 2 clownfish would be able to find at least a couple of small meals a day in the ocean. I would think they could find some meaty leftovers or bits of algae to eat throuout the day?

At the same time feeding every other day makes perfect sense to me from a water quality standpoint. And I do have lots of algaes/pods/worms they could be snacking on...

So if I start feeding them every other day, mainly frozen food, how much should go in? I cant imagine these 3 little fish could eat a whole cube. Maybe half a cube? Shouldnt I mix it up a bit by still offering pellets here and there?

Thanks for everyones help, maybe in another 6 months I'll stop worrying so much about my tank and start enjoying it more.

 

[wontonflip]

They probably feed multiple times a day, SMALL portions. Splitting one large meal for 2-3 smaller ones. Keep in mind, the more you feed, the more they poop = more organic material to be broken down. If you're not having water quality issues, just feed smaller portions if you're more comfortable feeding more frequently.

I feed one large meal a day. But that's because my fish find food in my tank. Yote used to feed once a month, maybe. Because his tank was pretty much self-sustaining. He didn't need to feed.

 

[SarahSmile]

I feed my 4 fish half a cube of mysis or half a cube of emerald entree every other day. Once in a while I won't have any thawed so I'll throw in some pellets. You'll be fine feeding half a cube every other day.
Worrying about your tank is half the fun :)